After the Ravens game, it seems a hot topic is the possibility of drafting another WR.  I went through and looked at all the wide receivers Pioli drafted.  Lots of busts, some success.  Please keep in mind that I hold Pioli in VERY high esteem.  I think he's a mastermind, but this is something I think we need to look at.  Enjoy!

2000-No wide receivers drafted out of 10 picks

2001-No wide receivers drafted out of 10 picks

2002-2 wide receivers drafted out of 6 picks

Second Round-Deion Branch, Super Bowl hero. Big name, but not a lot of big numbers.  Nine seasons, averages about 50 catches per year (although one year he was injured for 8 games).  Got a big contract after a 78 catch season (only season over 61 catches) and left New England after four years. Now he's back again.

Seventh Round-David Givens. 166 catches over five seasons.  Averages about 30 catches per year. A #3 or 4 receiver.  After five years, he's out of the NFL.

2003-1 wide receiver drafted out of 10 picks

Second Round-Bethel Johnson. Bust. 40 catches over 4 seasons, never had more than 16 catches in a season

2004-1 wide receiver drafted out of 8 picks

Fifth Round-P.K. Sam. Injured reserve for one year and practice squad for the second, then waived. Has maybe 10 catches for his career, all on other teams.

2005-No wide receivers drafted out of 7 picks

2006-1 wide receiver drafted out of 10 picks

**Gave up a second (Greg Jennings) and third round pick to move up to get this pick

Second Round, Chad Jackson. 14 catches over two years. Lots of injuries. Traded to Denver, and they only played him in four games. Bust. Big Bust.

2007-0 wide receiver drafted out of 9 picks

2008-1 wide receiver drafted out of 7 picks

Fifth Round, Matt Slater. 1 rushing attempt. That's it. He returned kicks and punts in 2009, but in 2010 had no offensive statistics and 21 tackles on special teams. In regards to being a WR, a bust.

2009-1 wide receiver drafted out of 8 picks

Quinten Lawrence-sixth round. 2 rushes, 1 reception. Could still turn it around somewhere, with someone.  Hope he does.

Recap:

--There were 85 draft picks over 10 years, with 7 of them being wide receivers.  We have one legitimate NFL player (Deion Branch, decent receiver, about fifty catches a year), one backup (David Givens), and five busts (Chad Jackson, P.K. Sam, Bethel Johnson, Matthew Slater, Quinten Lawrence).

--Pioli has NEVER drafted a wide receiver in the first round.

--The Patriots have always had decent receivers, but typically got them from free agency.  They even got Branch back this year in a trade.

--I didn't include the Chiefs 2010 rookies because it's just too early to tell. 

Based on this evidence and the fact that Pioli has drafted a WR in both of his years with the Chiefs, I think he most likely will not draft another this year.  If he does, it will be a project guy that we'll start out in special teams (sound familiar, McCluster?).   That seems to be his theme.  I think we'll get one big name wide receiver and maybe even get two via free agency and trade Bowe (I'm against it too, but Pioli trades people when their stock value is at its highest).  Thanks for taking the time to read all this info and have fun critiquing and discussing it.